This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. This research is looking at whether an increase in certain chemicals that occur in the cerebrospinal fluid [CSF- the fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord] is related to the how well a patient does neurologically following a traumatic brain injury. Approximately 1.4 million people end up in emergency rooms across the United States with a Traumatic Brain Injury [TBI] every year. Many of these people will experience some degree of permanent brain injury. Some studies have suggested that there is an inflammatory response that occurs around the area of the brain that has been injured after the initial brain injury. This response may lead to additional brain tissue being injured over the next few weeks. In this study we are examining the chemicals that occur during this inflammatory reaction called matrix metalloproteinases [MMP] which have been shown in animal studies to allow excess swelling in the brain to occur.